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2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Jennifer Gallogly

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Ms. Jennifer Gallogly is an outstanding primary grade teacher and a faculty leader at Central School. She epitomizes the very best in a Haddonfield educator. Her classroom is a place of joy, discovery, warmth, caring and respect. Her enthusiasm and love of learning permeate the room. 

She continually seeks creative ways to engage students in learning. The Haddonfield Sun recounted the story of her 2017 field trip to visit a "champion beech tree" outside the home of a Haddonfield resident. This field trip kicked off her unit on trees, a unit in which students become experts who study, inspect, measure and journal about a specific tree that they adopt. How amazing it is that the first graders in her charge become experts about trees and simultaneously learn the importance of becoming stewards of the environment.

Ms. Gallogly's reach extends beyond her classroom. At Central, she initiated and has advised the Environmental Club for 20 years. Among the club projects that her students completed were the recording of a video to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hopkins Pond,  contributing a book on Samuel Rhoads, and working with the Art teachers to use recycled bottle caps to create mural art on display in the playground. 

As a teacher leader, Ms. Gallogly has been a willing participant in several district committees. She could regularly be found making thoughtful contributions and serving as the voice of reason as faculty wrestled with key decisions regarding curriculum, instruction and assessment. When the district had to implement a new evaluation system, the administrators sought Jennifer to turnkey the training. This reflected the trust and respect that they had for her leadership and her knowledge of teaching. She has served as an HEA representative, former Central School PTA President, and a Branch manager of the Shade Tree Commission.

Terri Freed, the principal who hired Jennifer described her as the consummate educator. “She always puts children first. She is thorough, compassionate, and empathetic.  Jennifer always promoted collegial sharing and collaboration ensuring that every child in her charge was given the opportunity to meet his/her potential. And she did this with grace, optimism, a sense of humor, and determination. Jen always brought out the best in all of us who knew and worked with her.”

Chuck Klaus, Jennifer’s former principal, shared this recollection, “I can think of no other teacher or person who better understands what it means to teach the whole child than Jennifer. She is passionate, kind, caring and knowledgeable. I loved watching her sit at lunch with her first graders during the opening week of school and there is nothing scarier than that first week of first-grade lunch.” 
Shannon Simkus, her current principal echoed her colleagues and added, “She makes a difference in the life of every child she teaches and every family she works with.  In addition to her role as a teacher, Jen is a leader among the staff.  She is professional, hardworking, and always willing to extend herself to help the school community.” 

When Ms. Gallogly was hired in 2002, she was asked what she wanted to accomplish as a teacher. This was what she wrote at that time: "I want to instill in my students a sense of personal worth. I want them to see themselves as readers, writers, scientists and mathematicians. I want them to approach learning with expectation, with wonder and with a belief that they are capable of many things". Jennifer Gallogly has been doing that daily in the Haddonfield Public Schools for the past two decades.